The development, and implementation, of various types of mobile communication systems have been made possible as a result of advancements in communication technologies. A cellular communication system is exemplary of a mobile communication system whose development, and implementation, has been made possible as a result of such advancements in communication technologies.
Telephonic communication of both voice and data is generally permitted by way of a cellular communication system. Other mobile communication systems analogously also provide for the communication of both voice and data.
A radio transceiver, sometimes referred to as a mobile station, is utilized by a user to communicate telephonically therethrough. The radio transceiver, alone, or together with other apparatus, forms a mobile user endpoint for the communication of the information forming the voice and data. Through the use of radio transceivers through which to communicate, wirelines conventionally required in conventional communication systems upon which to define communication channels are obviated. Increased mobility of communications through use of a cellular, radio, or other mobile, communication system is inherently provided.
Advancements in communication technologies include advancements in digital communication techniques. Through the use of digital communication techniques, improved efficiency of communication of the data is possible. For example, through the use of digital communication techniques, the amount of bandwidth required to effectuate the communication of a given amount of data can be reduced. The efficiency of the communication of the data is measured, in part, by the bandwidth required of a communication channel upon which to effectuate the communication of the data. By reducing the bandwidth required to effectuate the communication of the data, the bandwidth available to a communication system can be used to effectuate increased amounts of data. Because of the particular need in a cellular, or other radio, communication system to efficiently utilize the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allocated thereto, the use of digital communication techniques is particularly advantageously implemented therein.
Information that is to be communicated is first digitized when digital communication techniques are used. Standard protocol schemes have been promulgated, and the data, once digitized, is formatted pursuant to such standardized protocol schemes to facilitate communication of the data during operation of the communication system in which the digital communication techniques are utilized. The internet protocol (IP) is an exemplary standardized protocol by which digitized data is formatted. When the internet protocol is used, the data is formatted into packets, and the packets are communicated to effectuate the communication. Individual ones, or groups, of the packets of data can be communicated at discrete intervals. And, once communicated, the packets can be concatenated together to recreate the informational content contained therein.
While cellular communication systems, referred to as first-generation (1G) systems, utilize conventional analog communication techniques, more-recently implemented cellular communication systems utilize digital communication techniques. So-called second-generation (2G), cellular communication systems have been installed over significant geographical areas. The second-generation systems have been constructed pursuant to various, sometimes competing, communication schemes. Next-generation, cellular communication systems, referred to as third-generation (3G), have been proposed and standards are being promulgated to define operational parameters therein. Third-generation, cellular communication systems also utilize digital communication techniques. And subsequent-generation, such as fourth-generation (4G), systems are, and shall likely continue to be, developed.
New communication services, not implementable as a practical matter, in first-generation, cellular communication systems, are implementable in second- and third-generation systems. For instance, multicast and broadcast communication services are implementable in these newer communication systems. Here the Broadcast communication service is defined to be a downlink only service which may be received by all mobile stations in the coverage area of the broadcast transmission, whilst the Multicast communication service is defined such that only a specific subset of the mobile stations in the coverage area of the Multicast transmission are able to receive the Multciast transmission. In a multicast or broadcast communication service, the same multicast data is anyhow communicated to a plurality of mobile user endpoints.
Existing manners by which to effectuate the multicast or broadcast service, however, require significant amounts of radio resources to be allocated for the effectuation of the communication service with each of the plurality of mobile user endpoints. For instance, in a GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) system in which SMS (Short Message Service) is implemented, broadcast services are standardized using an SMS cell broadcast server. The server is connected to a radio network controller (RNC) in UMTS, or a Base Station Controller (BSC) in GSM as defined in the corresponding communication system directly by way of an IuCB interface. And, multicasting of IP-formatted data can be supported in a GSM system in which GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is deployed.
However, a separate PDP (Packet Data Protocol) context must be created between each mobile user endpoint and GGSN (Gateway GPRS Service Node) defined in the GSM/UMTS system. When a separate PDP context is set up, every IP multicast receiver, i.e., every mobile user endpoint receiving the multicast data, occupies a separate radio channel. The existing need to allocate a separate radio channel for each mobile user endpoint, even though all of the mobile user endpoints are to receive the same multicast data, is bandwidth-consumptive and the channel allocation requirements potentially limit the number of mobile user endpoints that can receive the multicast data.
A more efficient manner by which to communicate the same data to a plurality of mobile user endpoints would facilitate the effectuation of multicast and broadcast communication services.
It is in light of this background information related to the communication of multicast data in a radio communication system that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.